Obamateurism of the Day

posted at 9:00 am on November 26, 2009 by Ed Morrissey

Happy Thanksgiving to all today — and what better way to celebrate this holiday than with a little historical turkey? In Barack Obama’s prepared remarks for the holiday delivered yesterday, he managed to miss the first Thanksgiving by 74 years (via HA commenter Buy Danish):

When my family and I sit around the table tomorrow, just like millions of other families across America, we’ll take time to give our thanks for many blessings. But we’ll also remember this is a time when so many members of our American family are hurting. There’s no question this has been a tough year for America. We’re at war. Our economy is emerging from an extraordinary recession into recovery. But there’s a long way to go and a lot of work to do.

In more tranquil times, it’s easy to notice our many blessings. It’s even easier to take them for granted. But in times like these, they resonate a bit more powerfully. When President Lincoln set aside the National Day of Thanksgiving for the first time — to celebrate America’s “fruitful fields,” “healthful skies,” and the “strength and vigor” of the American people — it was in the midst of the Civil War, just when the future of our very union was most in doubt. So think about that. When times were darkest, President Lincoln understood that our American blessings shined brighter than ever.

That Thanksgiving proclamation may be one of the finest in American history, and well worth quoting by President Obama … but it’s not the first. In 1789, George Washington proclaimed the first national Day of Thanksgiving — and it was on November 26th, too:

General Thanksgiving

By the PRESIDENT of the United States Of America
A PROCLAMATION

WHEREAS it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favour; and Whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me “to recommend to the people of the United States a DAY OF PUBLICK THANSGIVING and PRAYER, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness:

NOW THEREFORE, I do recommend and assign THURSDAY, the TWENTY-SIXTH DAY of NOVEMBER next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies and the favorable interpositions of His providence in the course and conclusion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty which we have since enjoyed;– for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enable to establish Constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted;– for the civil and religious liberty with which we are bleffed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge;– and, in general, for all the great and various favours which He has been pleased to confer upon us.

And also, that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech Him to pardon our national and other tranfgreffions;– to enable us all, whether in publick or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our National Government a blessing to all the people by constantly being a Government of wife, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all sovereigns and nations (especially such as have shewn kindness unto us); and to bless them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us; and, generally to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as he alone knows to be best.

GIVEN under my hand, at the city of New-York, the third day of October, in the year of our Lord, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-nine.

(signed) G. Washington

So today is the 220th anniversary of our first National Day of Thanksgiving. Celebrate it with the ones you love, and be sure to keep this great nation and its leadership in your prayers.

Got an Obamateurism of the Day? If you see a foul-up by Barack Obama, e-mail it to me at [email protected] with the quote and the link to the Obamateurism. I’ll post the best Obamateurisms on a daily basis, depending on how many I receive. Include a link to your blog, and I’ll give some link love as well. And unlike Slate, I promise to end the feature when Barack Obama leaves office.

Illustrations by Chris Muir of Day by Day. Be sure to read the adventures of Sam, Zed, Damon, and Jan every day!

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The UnPrecedent strikes again. Even in a speech that is traditionally non-political, Obama chooses to be so by selecting Lincoln to quote and credit with Thanksgiving rather than Washington. I got news for the Messiah, he’s no George Washington. By the way Mr. UnPrecdent, when am I gonna get my pony you promised?

Don’t you get the feeling that everything the Obama Administration knows about the United States comes from Wikipedia?

TheBigOldDog on November 26, 2009 at 7:38 PM

No. Even Wikipedia mentions George Washington’s proclamation. I think they are getting their info from asking yahoo questions and choosing the answer that sounds best to them as long as it in context with bringing up something to do with race relations. i.e. The civil war in this case. They will probably chalk it up to being taken out of context if ever asked about it, and as long as it is meant in the right spirit of the holiday it’s perfectly okay. I mean, why nitpik history?
/sarc

Not exactly. They don’t care what happened before other than to blame GWB for all their bad decisions. Beyond that they think history started on 1/20/09. The rest of it is obsure details they don’t care about and often get wrong in their zeal to find new “unprecedented” things about the filthy lying coward in the White House.

Every day in every way Obama is revealing that he is not an American, birthplace be damned. He utterly lacks any knowledge of our history, our traditions, or what makes us tick. He’s an outsider parasite come to wipe us out. He’s a political H5N1 on steroids.

This is something I have always had in the back of my mind. The reason he does not resonate with so many people, is because he lacks a basic knowledge of what it means to be “middle America”. His ideas, concepts, thoughts, ideals, originate from something apart from those of us who have been born, bread and raised with our hearts squarely planted in being proud of our country and knowing we have been blessed being born in the best place in the entire world, DESPITE our problems. We KNOW there is no better place and to change it would be the death of something intangible and unique, something very good. He is, inch by inch, revealing himself to be something other than the product he presented. We who have the mind to see and think knew it, others are just awakening to it. (I hope)

He says a lot of words, but words mean nothing. The way he lives, his ‘let them eat cake’ attitude and his leanings to vote ‘present’ while other control him, show him to be a puppet, a pawn, a loather of the Constitution, unthoughtful, and very unwise for a man who would be the most powerful man in the world.

I fear for us but I also hang on to hope that this defines who we are as a nation with each mistake, bad decision, oblivious comment, and detrimental move he makes against democracy. He will have his way for awhile, but as long as we are vigalant and LOUD there is the hope we can find our roots and thrive once again.